Theses and Dissertations

Closing the Loop: An Examination of Consumer Attitudes and Motivation for Sustainable Behaviors

Date of Award

12-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Business Administration

Committee Chair

Matt C. Howard, Ph.D.

Abstract

Smartphones and related electronic devices are a recently growing area of ethical, environmental, and social responsibility concern. Specifically, these products generate large quantities of electronic waste (e-waste) and are increasingly produced under questionable working conditions. These social and environmental impacts can potentially be mitigated through the adoption of sustainable consumer behaviors, such as e-waste recycling and purchasing sustainably- produced devices. However, although we are years into the modern sustainability movement, there still exists an attitude-behaviors gap where many consumers report that they are concerned about environmental and social responsibility issues, but they fail to translate these concerns into consumption behaviors. This manuscript examines the factors that should drive consumers to purchase electronic devices that have been manufactured by sustainable processes as well as engage in e-waste recycling behaviors. The study explores the relationship between consumers’ attitudes and beliefs towards sustainability and their overall motivation to engage in sustainable behaviors. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is used to investigate the direct, mediated, and moderated relationships among the variables studied using data from 343 respondents in the United States. Results suggest that consumers’ awareness and consciousness for sustainable consumption does positively influence motivation to engage in sustainable consumption behaviors.

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